‘Man of Steel’ posts biggest June opening ever with $113.1 million

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Henry Cavill stars as Superman in “Man of Steel,” which soared at the box office this weekend. (Warner Bros.)

By Amy Kaufman

Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — “Man of Steel” was the kryptonite to any box-office rival this weekend, monopolizing ticket sales and flying away with No. 1.

The 3-D film starring Henry Cavill as Superman grossed a stellar $113.1 million over the weekend, according to an estimate from distributor Warner Bros. Including the $12 million the Zack Snyder-directed flick collected from early screenings on Thursday, the movie has now sold a total of $125.1 million worth of tickets domestically.

The only other new movie to hit theaters this weekend, the R-rated comedy “This Is the End,” trailed far behind “Man of Steel.” However, the film’s $20.5-million, three-day opening is still solid, considering the movie cost Sony Pictures just $32.5 million to produce. Since debuting in theaters late Tuesday evening, the film has made a healthy $32.8 million in all.

“Man of Steel,” meanwhile, posted the biggest June opening ever (not adjusting for inflation), beating the $110.3-million launch of 2010’s “Toy Story 3.” The movie also had one of the most successful debuts of the year, behind only the massive $174.1-million opening for “Iron Man 3” in May.

The first Superman movie in seven years is already on its way to becoming the highest-grossing film featuring Clark Kent.

“Superman Returns” started with $52.5 million in its opening weekend and went on to collect $200.1 million in the U.S. and Canada — just over 50% of the movie’s final $391.1 million global tally.

“This Is the End,” written and directed by Seth Rogen and his “Superbad” collaborator Evan Goldberg, follows Rogen and his group of celebrity friends as they try to survive the apocalypse.

Though the picture was generating the most pre-release interest among those under 25, this weekend it actually did best with a slightly older crowd — 52% of whom were over 25. Males made up about 60% of the audience.